


The World Ain't Right for us

by alis_grave_nil



Series: The World ain't right for us [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Race Changes, Biracial Character, Bucky Barnes Feels, Declarations Of Love, Friendship/Love, Internalized Homophobia, M/M, Period-Typical Racism, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Racebending Revenge Challenge, Racism, Slurs, Steve Rogers Feels, biracial Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-13
Updated: 2016-03-13
Packaged: 2018-05-26 11:00:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6236077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alis_grave_nil/pseuds/alis_grave_nil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Steve Rogers meets a mixed boy named James Bucky Barnes and despite the odds against them,they fall in love.Pre-Captain America the first Avenger</p>
            </blockquote>





	The World Ain't Right for us

**Author's Note:**

> so I ran into this and decided to try my hand.In the 616 omic cannon,there is a black captain america and his grandson is the patriot.steve has went to see his family and all that so i wnted to try something different...winter soldier bein' a black..okay,mixed.i knew a mixed guy who could pass for white not that he tried (blonde hair,blue eyes...kinda looked like sebastian stan with curly blonde hair..i'm serious that person exists...haven't seen him in years though so?)but people don't really do that now.and i know seb's a cracker,but if he had curlier hair with those kiss me lips ,it wouldn't be far stretch to make the call .also,think of the consequences of steve trynna fight everybody and bucky putting his black hands on people? not good...

 

 

\--

It wasn't really easy to notice what was wrong with Bucky Barnes at first.His skin was light ,hos eyes were bright blue,his hair brown,so it wasn't obvious.But when it got hot,he tanned easily,then you noticed.Noticed his full lips more,notice his nose was too wide maybe.For her part,his mother processed his hair so it wasn't so obvious,told him to keep his mouth shut too,but Steve Rogers knew the truth.He knew as clear as day by the brown hands of Bucky's grandmother Mary Jane Barnes.

"Now you be good boy or you'll be lynched like your father,you understand me?Don't look at them other negroes,they'll drop the dime on you.And make sure you always keep your hat on,you understand me",Winnie would say to her boy in hushed fearful tones and Bucky hated it.

"Yes ma.I'll be good for massa",he said in a mocking tone that got him slapped,but did as he was told.The story was he was part Jewish,part italian which wasn't far-fetched because there was a cousin of his from Sicily who lived in the other neighborhood  not far away.

But there were things he had to do to keep his cover,working at night in the summer so he wouldn't tan from the sun being one of them,which ran him tired like a dog.

When he was little,Steve brought Bucky home to his mom's house happy fro a new friend.Sarah didn't say it at first ,never said it to his face neither.Bucky was a good boy,smart and so she tolerated him hoping Steve would grow out of it.

He didn't.

"Stevie--honey,you can't be bringing that Barnes boy around here no more",she said,cleaning up the dinner table/

"Why not? He's a good friend,my best friend.Never met nobody better",he said.

"He's...he's a negro you see.Even with them bright blue eyes,and that light skin...he's got somethin' in his hair to hide it mostly,but in the right angle,he looks like a colored boy",she said.

"I know",Steve answered and she was sighed.

"Stevie,people not gonna treat you right and you're so small,I know you like him protecting you and--"

Steve would hear none of that.Bucky was his friend, his best friend.And he was.When Stev was sick,Bucky nirsed him to health.He did shopping for Steve's mom,even did Steve's chores.He knew to leave when Sarah came and Steve knew why and resente dit.

As they grew older though,things got worse.Bucky's lips got fuller,hair got a bit more curl,Bucky got stir crazy ,self conscious. To steve,it framed his face,making him look like an angel,halo of light dancing fromit.As Steve helped him rinse out his permed hair ,Bucky groaned in frustration.

"I can't live like this Stevie,it's like I'm lyin' to myself.I can't do this no more",he said,angry.

"I agree.It ain't right Buck.It ain't .And if I was in your place,I'd stand up to 'em.You know how I feel about bullies",Steve said,

 

"And what? Get lynched?,remember Mr.Milton from down the way?",Bucky said.

"That was evil..I tried to stop it ,Buck--"

"Not your fault,Stevie",Bucky said grabbing Steve by his skinny shoulders.

"You can't save the world"he said, hollow.

"Yeah,but I can try",Steve said.Bucky rolled his eyes,finished drying his hair. After getting dressed hp in his best threads he spun around let Steve had a look.Steve always burned everything to memory for his pictures.

When Bucky went out dancing,he brought home different girls. The girls he brought were brown and voluptuous with lips as full as Bucky's,dark pools for yes and dark hair,skin to match the many colors of the earth.Steve could never find enough browns,the right browns to capture that kinda beauty,but he tried.

"I seen you eyin' Betty the last time she was over.How 'bout we take you over to my folks part of town?",he said.Stev didn't like dancing,couldn't with his asthma,but went anyway.

* * *

The place they came to was in Harlem.Where Bucky kept his head down in their side of Brooklyn, _everybody_ here knew Bucky Barnes.Shook so many hands he thought his arm would fall off and the women were gathering around Bucky like he was a cinema and as a result,gathered around Steve.He'd been dragged to back rooms before ,smiling and giggling with girls,sliding his hands up skirts and blouses.

And yes,Bucky did have that look,looked like he should be in the films,looked even better when he was on stage and grabbed that microphone and sang his soul out to the unfamiliar music too.It was Jazz,but it was different , different than what he was use too.And the way they danced,danced different,looked more natural in Steve's eyes. And the dames there were just as pretty and feminine as any other dames,but the colors of their dresses against their skin was the colors of an artists dreams.And he'd tried hard to capture it.

"Well aren't you talented .How about I buy that off of you for a dollar?",a woman said.

Soon word got out what Steve could do and he was making money hand over fist.

"You are one crazy white boy,Stevie.Drawin' pictures of colored folks like that.Don't nobody wanna see a nigga on canvas",Bucky said.

"Folks is folks.I'm an artist,I see beauty and I try my best to capture it.Don't always get it right but I do try",he said.

It was so true,if all the pictures of Bucky that he kept hidden was anything to go by.

* * *

There were many a day too when Bucky would come home with unexplained bruises,marks,but Steve knew what it was,didn't have to ask.He just helped him clean up,went to bed.

 

It got harder though when their mother's passed,first Winnifred,died a bad cough,and Sarah slowly consumed by cancer.

_"Stevie...I know how you feel about that Barnes boy.You got a choice--you do,you don't have to  this.If he wasn't one of them,maybe you could lie,say he ws a brother,but---_

Steve wouldn't hear none of that.

\---

 

The next time Steve got into a fight,Bucky was there to save him again,but it was a bad day.

"Ain't you that nigger boy Barnes? And you put yo' black hands on me?",he said,pulling a knife.

"Get outta here,Steve!",Bucky said,still trying to protect him.

"Bucky!"

"I said leave!Go on!",he snapped.

The only reason they made it was because Bucky was strong enough to carry Steve's and run like his life depended on it. Brcause it did.  
\--

"I can't live on this side of Brooklyn no more Stevie.I gotta pack up.Gotta see if somebody might actually take me",Bucky said,bitter.

Buck,I'm sorry but they was wrong-"

"So what,Steve?! It's for you to say that .You can say what you want,can't cha ,white boy?",Bucky said.

"Bucky,you can't leave,please Buck",Steve said,grabbing his shoulder.

"I have to.You know they told everybody what happened,told everybody I put my hands on Riley.They gonna be back with a lynch mob",Bucky said with an bitter laugh.The look in his eyes was like he was like that of a hanged man,a man who was certain death was coming to him.Bucky finished packing his back,stuck his knife in his pocket and was out the door.Steve grabbed his bag,running after Bucky,finally catching his arm.

"Bucky,please,I--"

Bucky cut him off with a deep passionate kiss.He pulled back so fast that Steve barely got a taste,shoved a whole stack of bills at Steve.

"You take care of yourself,Stevie.Please,just do that much for me",Bucky said,and he was gone before Steve even had a chance to recover,gone because with his week body and his weaker lungs,he couldn't do a thing.

 

"I-m sorry,Buck",Steve said quietly.

* * *

Steve's new life mission was to find Bucky.Nothing else mattered.Nearly a year went by before he tracked him down in a run down place where the ceiling leaks,the floor creaks and there was no hot water.When Bucky answered the door,his hair was waved,than curly as it fell in his face.Steve realizes this was the first time he'd seen the real Bucky and he was more beautiful than he ever imagined.

Steve gave a small smile and Bucky gave a look of shock and horror nearly dropped his cigarette,before he snatched Steve in the door.

"Your white ass is gonna be the death of me.How the hell did you even track me down?",Bucky asked,locking the doors and looking out ,paranoia clinging to him like a second skin.Steve carefully slid out  a portrait of Bucky,handed it to him.

In black and white,Bucky's african features were far more visible than in natural color.Bucky took a look at it and smiled.

"You really don't know when to quit,do ya'?",Bucky said,handing it back.

"You know me Buck.I'm persistent",Steve said.

"You really are a punk,you know that? ",Bucky said.

"And you're a jerk",Steve shot back,Bucky grinned and ruffled Steve's hair.

"Whatever.I see you been takin' care of yourself,so I'm gonna let it slide.But if you wanna stay with me,we gotta lay down some ground rules",Bucky said,grabbing Steve's bag.

"First,you can't be seen 'round here.You can stay at nights,leave early.you bein' here's a liability to everyone in the building",Steve said.

"Awe,Buck,I didn't know,I'll leave'"

"Like hell you are!I just got you back,not losing you again",Bucky said,dropping Steve's bag in the bedroom and coming back.

"Second,whatever you do,don't EVER talk to the police,do you understand me? You can't lie for shit Stevie and they'll always ask the right questions--called leadin' the witness--Ido actually read",Bucky said.

"Third,we can't be seen together no more,Stevie,least not for a while,not till I fix my hair",Bucky said.

"Tour hair's perfect ,Buck",Steve said.Bucky chuckled.

"Tell that to the comb it did battle with",he said with a smile and they both chuckled.

:And last?",Buck said.

"Yeah? Steve asked gently.

"Bring your bones over here for a hug",Bucky said and Steve immediately clung to Bucky's strong grasp,buried his face in his chest.

"Don't ever wanna leave you,Buck...but...us"Steve said,cupping Bucky's chin.Bucky grinned and closed his eyes.

"Don't wanna leave you either.But the world ain't never been right for me,so hell if it ain't right for us ,Stevie",Bucky said.

"Fuck 'em,we can have our world here",Steve said,kissing Bucky's hand,then he pulled him down,kissed him right on the mouth running his hands through that curly hair Steve always craved to touch

"Jesus,you weren't playin' were you ,Stevie.God,you're gonna be the death of me",Bucky said,as they pulled back.Grinning shy,before adding another kiss and another and soon they were falling back onto an old mattress. Slow kisses a bit more frantic,craving skin on skin. In Steve's eyes the world was already wrong,so many things wrong.Steve couldn't have health,wealth,his mother,so why couldn't he have this one good thing? Why couldn't they? Why couldn't he have Bucky?

There was nothing else more precious than that.

"You look like an angel,Buck",Steve said smiling as they were stripped down to nothing only the sheets a barrier between.

"Oh yeah? Tell that to white Jesus",he said.Steve slapped his arm and Bucky laughed before dragging Steve down beside him.For a moment,he just looked into his eyes,looked at them side by side,ghost touches along their sweating skin,going slow so Steve could stand it.

"Love you more than anything,Buck",Steve said quietly.

"Yeah? Well I loved you first",Bucky replied.

And even if the world wasn't right for them,it didn't matter then.

 

 

 

 


End file.
